No one could have predicted the 200cm ruckman would be forced to sit out Carlton’s finals campaign last year, due to an freak setback that caused numbness down one side of his leg and into his foot.
“It wasn’t a major problem, but I had a small cyst that was causing me to lose feeling in the leg while I was running and meant I had to have four weeks off,” he said.
“I then had my knee scraped at the end of the season to make sure everything was ok, but since then everything has been going really well.”
Kreuzer returned to the Blues line up in Round 12 last year, after being sidelined in June 2010 with an ACL tear that that required a full knee reconstruction.
After putting in tireless hours in the gym and on the training track, the 2007 No.1 draft pick believes his body is ready for season 2012.
“I was lucky enough to join the team at the high performance training camp in Abu Dhabi and get one week of training in, but was still a little limited in what I could do,” he said.
“I did however manage to have two really solid weeks of training leading up to Christmas, which has given me great confidence and something to build on for this year.”
Joining the rest of his teammates at Visy Park this week as they recommence their pre-season training commitments, Kreuzer is optimistic about the future.
“I had a good chat to Ratts (Senior Coach Brett Ratten) at the end of last year and expect that I will probably play more in the ruck this year,” he said.
“I have much more confidence in my knee than I did last season and am really looking forward to getting out there and playing.”
